Preface.

alone through improper use and
violation of the former referring to the "first things" or delightful gifts mentioned on the previous page. For thereby
nature is weakened, and power and
opportunity are given to these the burdensome or painful forces to
rebel. And this is what the Scripture
says: Everything is set against
one another—evil against good,
death against life. A reference to the Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 33:14–15: "Good is set against evil, and life against death; so is the godly against the sinner, and the sinner against the godly." Since these burdensome-
making things arise by Divine or-
dinance through a given opportunity,
they resist the delightful things,
and so a natural war arises,
which in the human body
is called a sickness.
To quiet this war and unrest,
nothing else occurs but that nature,
with its propertiesoriginal: proprieteten; the inherent qualities, virtues, or natural characteristics of a substance,
overcomes the rebels, brings them
under itself, or even drives them
from its borders; which happens
when one succorsoriginal: succurrirt; to aid, assist, or provide relief to a struggling force nature and
comes to its aid, doing harm
to the rebellious part in opposition,
weakening its forces, and taking
away its advantage, which is hin- The text cuts off mid-word, to be completed as "hinderlich" (hindering/detrimental) on the next page.